Power
by Rosa Clearwater
Summary: My second entry for the Fanfiction Idol Competition. Enjoy :


A brilliant streak of lightning flashed against the cold grey sky. Blackish grey clouds painting the sky, and the soaked students who had lounged outside, were beginning to scramble into the building. Those already inside the magical school had known better than to try to go outside, especially with all the thunderstorms recently. It was rare to see even a few hours of sunlight as the transition from fall to winter commenced, therefore making it more gloomier than it needed to be.

Tom Riddle, Fifth Year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, looked away from the window blinking furiously as spots appeared in his vision. Riddle was momentarily blinded by the flash of lightning, but slowly his sight came back. Ignoring this, he began to tap the window pane looking around the hall for anything to do.

He was bored. The school year had started and he was already ahead in practically all of his classes (_except_ for Transfiguration, but that was Dumbledore's fault). So, having already finished his homework for the week, he had nothing to do. His "friends" were most likely too busy idiotically taunting pathetic Mudbloods, the Room of Requirements (the room he'd go up to in order to practice Dark Arts –which only _he_ knew about) was closed for reasons unknown, and there were no more possible people to recruit for his cause that he knew of. There was nothing left to do, but he couldn't exactly retreat to his dorm to plan for life after Hogwarts, when he was supposed to be at lunch.

Suddenly thunder roared again outside. Riddle was pulled out of his thoughts instantly, and turned to the window. A faint shout of an unrecognizable tone came from outside (dare he describe it as joyful?), near the lake, and when rubbing away the mist that surrounded the window, he saw a tall figure near the lake. The figures arms were outstretched, and their hood was down, allowing the rain to drench them, as they continued to laugh clearly enjoying the storm. Tom almost rolled his eyes, presuming that the figure was one of the crazier students of Hogwarts. There seemed one in every year. He almost dismissed the student, until he saw another flash of lightning, illuminating the figure.

Rains and leaves seemed to swirl around them. Black hair flew out behind their back, occasional raven black locks floated above their head, as magical power seemed to envelope them in a soft yet sharp glow. Riddle felt his eyes lust for that power and control, as amber colored leaves swirled around the figure in a controlled fashion, the rain seem to refreshing their power. He could hear the muffled sound of muffled laughter, felt the happiness and freedom radiating meters away. Waves that came up to half the height of the figure splashed around them, and they seemed to be doing magic, but from the distance he couldn't tell.

Tom's eyed flashed a mixture of red and green, staring in admiration and lust at the power the person had. The spells they were controlling required advance magic beyond a seventh year. He figured they were just releasing their stress in magic, but nonetheless the spells they were creating intriguing him enough to figure out whom the mysterious figure was.

Slowly the rain began to lessen, and the droplets faded leaving the ground moist and fresh. The sun rose out of the clouds for a brief moment, shining on the drenched grass, the lake that was beginning to calm, and the unrecognizable figure. However they were still too far away to get a clear look at. Riddle was sure it was a male however, as no girl could possibly be that powerful. Suddenly footsteps coming by pulled him out of his thoughts, as a familiar boy came up to Riddle, and bowed out of respect and fear. Riddle nodded, and the boy began to talk.

"My lord." He said breathless, his eyes gleaming slightly, "We have another recruit." He said excitedly in a hushed whisper, and Tom wordlessly followed him to the recruit. But not before taking one last look through the window to try to catch the figure. Who had of course disappeared?

"Achoo!" A loud sneeze sounded in the Sixth Years Gryffindor girl dormitory, followed by a small sniffle. The reactions were immediate.

"Fantastic time to get a cold Min! The day before we face Slytherin, you just had to get ill!"

"Minerva! Are you alright?"

"Don't tell me you tried to train for Quidditch in those horrible storms _again_!"

A loud groan was issued from the bed closest to the entrance, as the girl who had sneezed turned away from the others. Brilliant emerald eyes opened, and gleamed with the excitement she had felt only a few hours before, even though pearls of sweat around her face showed she was indeed ill.

"It wasn't that terrible." She croaked fondly, smelling of grass and fresh rain.

_I don't own Harry Potter. This was for the brilliant Fanfiction Idol Competition. Thanks for reading! _


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